2 Day Itinerary and Cost – Douro Valley, Portugal

Any visit to Portugal MUST include a visit to the beautiful wine region of Douro Valley. If you are short on time, you can take a bus or boat tour from Porto for one day. If you have a couple of days, this self-guided itinerary will allow you to explore more freely and explore the best of this region. In this detailed 2 day itinerary of the Douro Valley, we share things to do, the best views, where to stay and top tips to enjoy this wonderful region. You will discover that the Douro Valley has the perfect weather conditions to produce Port wine and the dramatic landscape makes it seem unreal. No surprise that this site earned UNESCO World Heritage status as you will be able to attest through the pictures.

How many days do you need in the Douro Valley?

We recommend a minimum of 2 days for your Douro Valley itinerary to have a relaxing experience because there is a lot of driving. Avoid the weekends for less traffic on the road because there will be more tourists and locals visiting during the weekend. If you only have one day, you will find that there are a lot of organized tours from Porto to the Douro Valley. If you can afford more than 2 days, that’s even better! The region is large and there are many places you can visit more leisurely.

Things to Do in the Douro Valley

We recommend renting a car so that you can take advantage of visiting more remote locations and make stops whenever you’d like. We did not spend much time in the most touristic towns (like Pinhão or Regua) and ventured instead for the lesser known locations, wine producing estates (aka “Quinta”) and stayed in a countryside accommodation.

Here is a daily summary of our 2 day Douro Valley itinerary:

Day	What did we do?
1	Left Porto early Picnic lunch at Miradouro S. Domingos Enjoyed a 1 hour rebalo boat ride on the Douro Valley leaving from Pinhão, Snack at one of the wine producing estates (Quinta das Carvalhas) Dinner and stayed at lodging (Quinta Manhãs Douro) Total driving: 120 miles, 3 hours and 40 minutes.
2	Visited the town of Provesende Enjoyed a great breakfast at our Quinta Swim in the pool before checking out. Back on the road to see a few viewpoints (Viewpoint De Loivos, Miradouro da Abelheira, Miradouro de São Salvador do Mundo) Stop at wine estate (Quinta do Tedo) to learn about the Port wines and tasting Great hike within the estate Watched the sunset at one last vista before heading back to Porto  Total driving: 140 miles, 4 hours.

Trip miles total: 260 miles, 4 hours and 40 minutes.

The map below captures all the sites we’ve stopped at as well as the place we stayed at.

Day 1 – From Porto to the Douro Valley

Road Trip and Stopping for Vistas

There are several options for transport to get from Porto to the Douro Valley. You can take a cruise, the train or rent a car. All options will have a lovely ride but we ended up opting for renting a car because it was inexpensive and we wanted the flexibility to explore outside of the main towns. 

Upon recommendation from the car rental agent, we decided to take the highway from Porto to Amarante and then go on the countryside roads which ended up being a good suggestion because it saved time and the nicest part of the drive starts around Amarante. Some people opt to drive along the river the entire way but that will double the driving time and it’s already a lot of hilly and winding driving once you get to the heart of the Douro. Note that you do have to pay tolls of about 6 EUR to take the highway (one way). 

From Amarante, we kept driving until we reached the town of Régua. Régua is a popular stop for people coming to the Douro Valley by either train or boat. We didn’t spend much time in this town as it was very developed so we kept driving to reach a viewpoint, Miradouro S. Domingos. The location was a bit of an adventure to get to (due to the narrow roads and sharp turns), but the view at the top was really worth it! The view point had some nice stoned picnic tables that we used for our self-packed picnic lunch. From the top on a sunny day you can see the Douro valley and river that runs underneath the view point. For lunch, our spread included some local Portuguese Linguica, nuts, fruits, and vegetables that we prepared the night before.

Pinhāo and Rebalo River Boat Ride

After a a great lunch enjoying the amazing views, we kept driving until we reached Pinhāo where we took a 1 hour rebalo boat ride on the river. We did not have the best weather during our boat ride but we were still able to enjoy a relaxing experience and get a really beautiful perspective of the valley from the water. There was also a 2 hour boat ride option that would be nice as well. 

Cost for an hour boat ride along the Douro river w/ Magnífico Douro: 10 EUR per person (12.50 EUR as of 2024)

As we left the boat, the sun came back out so we spent another hour or so visiting the town of Pinhāo and had a mid afternoon snack on the lovely terrace of the Quinta das Carvalhas. (right after the bridge).

Dinner and quinta stay

We then started to drive towards our accommodation. One the way, we could not keep driving on the beautiful road N323 without stopping for the beautiful views so we made two stops. One as we exited Pinhāo and one half way through our accommodation. (see our detailed map).

This closed the exploration part of our first day but we were in for a nice treat when we reached our accommodation, Quinta Manhãs Douro. After being impressed with everything we saw, we went straight to the swimming pool surrounded by a beautiful vineyard and orchards.

Then it came time for dinner. We had a huge 3 course dinner with an appetizer, entree and dessert and definitely overate a bit that night but it was hard to pass on all the amazing food. 

Cost for 3 course dinner at the Quinta : 20 EUR per person. 

Total driving: 120 miles, 3 hours & 40 minutes.

Day 2 – From Douro Valley back to Porto

Provesende and relaxing at the Quinta

After a good night of rest, we started the day with an early walk into the town of Provesende which was just 10 minutes walk from where we stayed. The town was pretty quiet and it was nice to explore it and see it come to life.

After that, it was time for us to enjoy the breakfast that was included with our booking at Quinta Manhãs Douro. Once again we were not disappointed. The breakfast was generous and included a few local items (like pastel de nata, homemade pastries/bread and fruits). And the staff was of course able to accommodate Mrs. NN specific diet requests!

We then stayed at the country house until checkout time to have some R&R time: some tea, meditation and swimming. 

Vista Stops and Wine tour

Once packed and ready to go, we headed to our first view point: Viewpoint De Loivos that was recommended by our Quinta and was just a few minutes detour from our route. We then head for Miradouro da Abelheira which was the best vista of the Douro river. We had one last stop as we started driving back at Miradouro de São Salvador do Mundo for yet another amazing view of the Douro river and valley.

After so many viewpoints, it was finally time for us to learn more about wine production in this region and we decided to stop at Quinta do Tedo to get educated. This wine estate has some very unique views of the region and in addition to the Douro river, there’s a great view of the Tedo river (a smaller river that becomes a tributary into the Douro). The visit lasted about one hour and included 3 tastings, which was great. The Quinta also offers tours without tasting if you aren’t a wine drinker. After the tour and some pictures taken from the wine estates, we decided to enjoy the golden hour by taking an hour long walk around the property using a wonderful trail that the wine estate has made available to its customers. 

As our day was winding down, we drove for one last view point at Miradouro São Leonardo de Galafura which was a bit out of our way back home but was worth the stop. We reached Porto at the end of the day with great memories of our getaway!

Total driving: 140 miles, 4 hours.

What to Avoid

A lot of people get really excited about the Douro region and it makes sense when you see the gorgeous pictures and hear about it. As with every location, here are a few things we would not recommend to do.

• Do not stay in the main towns: Pinhão or Regua. In our opinion, if you’re going to go to the Douro Valley, you want to stay away from the busy town center to fully experience the beauty of the area.
• Do not stop your route at Regua: There are some itineraries that don’t make it past Regua but the area between Regua and Pinhão is the most stunning, so you don’t want to miss it.
• Do not book an organized tour to the Douro Valley: Unless you only have one day available, the giant buses we saw with large crowds did not look enjoyable. If you do book a tour, go for a small group tour.
• Do not book the picnics at the wineries: If you’re a reader of Nomad Numbers then you probably care about value and 30 EUR each person for a charcuterie and some wine is not good value! Put that money towards your own picnic and stop at one of the many viewpoints.

Where to stay in the Douro Valley

We loved our accommodation at Quinta Manhas Douro!  We found this gem of a place on booking.com after searching dozens of options. This country house checked off everything we were looking for. The Quinta was small(7 rooms total), really modern, had a pool and was in the middle of the wine valley in the countryside. Oh and did we mention that the staff was top-notch? Upon arrival, we made specific dietary requests and the chef in person came to talk to us about what options we could have for dinner.

Note: Links to the accommodations below are affiliate links, meaning that if you click and purchase any of them, Nomad Numbers may receive a commission at no additional cost to you. For more information please review our disclaimer page.

Day	Accommodation / Location	Nomad Numbers Rating
1	Quinta Manhas Douro	5 out of 5 – Excellent This lovely country house that only accommodates 6+1 rooms. From talking in person about some dietary restrictions, to the really warm staff to the gorgeous view and the swimming pool, this place has been one of the best we’ve stayed at for a short getaway. We highly encourage people to book it if they want a perfect and relaxing time in the region. Breakfast is included which features local pastries, fruits and some more common continental items. (8.9 score on booking.com)

Getting to the Douro Valley

The best way to experience the Douro region is by car, in our opinion, as this will give you great flexibility in both schedule and locations you can visit. We took a car rental from Porto which cost us about $20 USD per day. When picking your car, try to pick a car that is fuel efficient so you can save on gas.

Cost for a 2 days rental with Budget: 33 EUR

As mentioned, alternatives would be taking a tour, a train or a ferry but you will be limited to the train and ferry stops in what you can see. As you saw in our itinerary, we stopped at many great viewpoints and a lovely winery that you will need a car to access.

Cost of Trip

This 2 day getaway was definitely a treat and we balanced splurging on a nice experience with getting value for our stay. For example, we packed our own picnic instead of doing a pricey picnic offered by the wineries but we spent more on a 3 course dinner. There were definitely cheaper accommodation options but since it was just one night, we wanted to treat ourselves to a quiet remote country house stay.

TL;DR; As a couple we spent a total of 255 USD for this trip. Note: this budget is as a couple so if you travel solo, your budget might differ.

Category	Total Cost USD	Comments
Accommodation	$72.3	This is covering one night at the wonderful Quinta Manhas Douro (which included free breakfast)
Transportation	$84.4	This is for the rental car & gas.
Groceries /Snacks	$12.3	This covered our lunch picnic on day one. We skipped lunch on the following day since our breakfast was so huge 🙂
Eating Out	$45.2	This covered dinner at the Quinta.
Activities	$40.6	This includes our boat tour + our stop at the winery
TOTAL	$254.8	The value we got was definitely exceptional. It was only for a two day trip but it’s not bad considering everything we were able to do and see while being on our own schedule.

Other Tips

Here are our tips for anyone that is planning their itinerary to visit the Douro Valley and wants to save time and money while having the best possible experience:

• Check the weather – The region isn’t as gorgeous when it’s raining or if the sky is cloudy so make sure the check the forecast as you are planning your trip.
• Avoid the weekend – We were surprised to see very little people during our getaway. Weekdays are a bit less crowded than weekends since you usually avoid the locals that are coming to the Douro Valley from Porto.     
• Drive with caution – The roads in the Douro Valley can be pretty narrow and we noticed people driving really fast. Accidents are apparently common in this region so be extra careful. 
• Don’t drive & drink! – With many wineries along the way, it might be tempting to try a few in a day. If you do so, please make sure you have a designated driver that won’t be drinking so everybody can come back home safely! 

Planning a trip to Portugal? Check out our Destination Report for Porto and Destination Report for Lisbon: What to see, eat and do.

What do you think about our itinerary in the Douro Valley? Did you know about this region? Would you like to spend a few days there and enjoy everything this gorgeous region has to offer?